Big Ten Football: Preseason Stock Report Rankings

2. Ohio State

Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Last year: 12-2 (8-0)

This Week: at Navy (in Baltimore, MD – Aug 30 – 11:00 A.M. on CBS Sports Network)

My Prediction: Ohio State 27-13

The biggest Big Ten story line heading into the season is how Ohio State will perform without its Heisman candidate at quarterback?

Redshirt Freshman J.T. Barrett looks to be the guy replacing Miller but as Husker fans may recall, redshirt freshmen are often limited in what they can do in their first year.

What will make those growing pains especially difficult is the little proven talent returning on offense.

Not only did the Buckeyes lose running back Carlos Hyde to the NFL but four out of five starting offensive linemen.

Urban Meyer made no bones about his opinion that the o-line had to improve significantly before the season was to kickoff at Big Ten media days.

Maybe one reason Meyer felt this way was when flashbacks to the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game hit.

Micheal Bennett, Joey Bosa, Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington all have All-Big Ten potential.

The defense behind them looks to be a project as a the under-performing secondary from last season lost most of its players. The linebacker unit loses All-American Ryan Shazier to graduation.

The loss of Miller is a significant one that removes the Buckeyes from the favorites discussion when talking about the college football playoff.

However, a manageable schedule (one game versus a Top 25 team) and the overall talent on the roster should allow the Buckeyes to contend for the conference title.